Sunday Morning

Trust Me #19

Sunday Morning, the opening song on The Velvet Underground & Nico, lulls you into a false sense of cool calmness before the raw romp of I'm Waitin' For The Man, the majestic magical darkness of Venus In Furs, the psychedelic bliss and rush of Heroin, the insanity of The Black Angel's Death Song or the white noise of European Son.

The use of the celesta (from the French celeste for heavenly), which John Cale discovered in the studio and decided to use, creates a gorgeous melody, Lou Reed's voice is lush and hushed, Mo Tuckers drums are soft and brushed and Cale also creates gorgeous noises in the background with his viola.  Reed's guitar solo is just perfect.

Reed and Cale had originally written the song for Nico. Although she had sung this live with the band, Reed took the lead vocals in the studio and he delivers a brilliant performance.

Sunday Morning is a beautiful song; evocative lyrics, delivered perfectly and a band performance that gives me a warm glow every time I listen to it.

So many bands I fell for as a teenager cited The Velvet Underground & Nico as an important album and I fell under its spell like so many before me. And it was/is a perfect Sunday Morning song after a big night out.

This is number 19 in my Trust Me series featuring songs I love and just think; Trust Me, you'll love them too.

See below for the list of previous songs to feature. Search for Everything Flows Trust Me on Spotify for a playlist of all songs, or CLICK HERE

Sunday morning, brings the dawn in

It's just a restless feeling, by my side

Early dawning, Sunday morning

It's just the wasted years, so close behind

Watch out, the world's behind you

There's always someone around you, who will call

It's nothing at all

Sunday morning and I'm falling

I've got a feeling I don't want to know

Early dawning, Sunday morning

It's all the streets you crossed not so long ago

Watch out, the world's behind you

There's always someone around you, who will call

It's nothing at all

Watch out, the world's behind you

There's always someone around you, who will call

It's nothing at all

Sunday morning, Sunday morning, Sunday morning

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton

1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells

2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond

3. Where's The Playground Susie?   by Glen Campbell

4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot

5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon

6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras

7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans

8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland

9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave

10. Sometimes by James

11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time

12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre

13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields

14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals

15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser

16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes

17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth

18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter

Never Ending Mixtape part 51

Hi

How are you?

Thanks for checking in on the latest additions to my Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify, now with 1,568 songs and over 104 hours of music for you to enjoy.

I'm a sucker for lists of bands and songs, so this is a blog I really look forward to writing every month.

I add songs to the Mixtape as I go, with no thought behind band / song / style, so somehow everything flows;  rock n roll from the 50's, 60's beat and psychedelia, Motown, Northern Soul, disco, house, indie, pop, electro .... it's all in there.

You can scroll down to near the end for the songs listed below, or play from the start, or just click on shuffle. Enjoy, and please let me know if you find a song you love - whether it is a blast from the past or one you have never heard before.

Loads of songs this month, including;

JUST OUT - Songs by Supercrush, Taylor Swift, the debut single by Birds of Pandaemonium that I discovered via the Lauren Laverne show (it's so good I have also added the remix), Carla J Easton's new single and a song from the latest Emi James EP (blog to follow soon) and a beauty by The Flaming Lips

RECENT DISCOVERIES - Playlists from the team behind the Heavenly Social, I'm working my way through them and songs like Art - The Meters / Car on a Hill - Joni Mitchell / Life on Mars - Dexter Wansel / Brother, Where Are You? - Johnny Rivers / Big Chief - Dr. John / Stop Bajon - Tullio De Piscopo have been discovered through the playlists

REDISCOVERIES - The Beta Band, the instrumental version of Association by Teenage Fanclub, Nick Drake and I'm going through a big Velvet Underground phase just now

Read on for the full list. Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or click below.

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I Don't Want To Be Sad Anymore - Supercrush

I Know - The Beta Band

She's The One - The Beta Band

Sweet Young Thing - The Chocolate Watchband

Love To You - The Charlatans

Sexuality - Billy Bragg

Everybody's Happy Nowadays - Buzzcocks

Association (instrumental) - Teenage Fanclub

If Ever I Was A Child - Wilco

The Wind - Yusuf

Time Of No Reply - Nick Drake

Northern Sky - Nick Drake

Be Here Now - George Harrison

Moonshadow - Many Moore

Carey - Joni Mitchell

California - Joni Mitchell

Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell

Dreaming - Blondie

Sometimes I Don't Need To Believe In Anything - Teenage Fanclub

Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot

I Am ... I Said - Neil Diamond

Nowhere To Run - Laura Nyro

Monkey Time / Dancing In The Streets - Laura Nyro

It's Your Thing - The Isley Brothers

Express Yourself - Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band

Here Comes The Meter Man - The Meters

These Things Will Keep Me Loving You Dear - The Velvettes

Never Knew You - Carla J Easton

Float Through Wires - Emi James

Bubble Gun - Honeyblood

B + A - The Beta Band

Smokey Joe's La La - Lance Ferguson

The Book of Love - The Magnetic Fields

Cherry- coloured Funk - The Cocteau Twins

Asleep From Day - Chemical Brothers

Pale Blue Eyes - Velvet Underground

Here She Comes Now - Velvet Underground

exile - Taylor Swift w/ Bon Iver

Under Control - The Strokes

Art - The Meters

Car on a Hill - Joni Mitchell

Life on Mars - Dexter Wansel

Brother, Where Are You? - Johnny Rivers

Big Chief - Dr. John

Stop Bajon - Tullio De Piscopo

Days Go By - Birds of Pandaemonium

Days Go By (Bryan Mette remix) - Birds of Pandaemonium

You N Me Sellin' Weed - The Flaming Lips

Never Ending Mixtape Part 36

Pop genius Brian Wilson

And so my Never Ending Mixtape passes the 1,000 song mark. And, even if I do say so myself, it does so in style with some stupendous tunes.

There are tunes to dance to, get lost in, swoon and melt over, sing to, play air guitar to and fall in love with. Some of these tunes have lived with me for years or decades, others are tunes I have just discovered.

The Nearest Faraway Place is an instrumental by The Beach Boys that will let you drift off into a daydream, Another Boy Like Mine (demo) will hit you hard and you'll fall, Iko Iko is like a playground song full of simplistic joy and Tommy and the Shondells are my new favourite 60's band with Crimson and Clover shooting high into my favourite songs ever list. I must write that down sometime!

Elsewhere we have the Velvets, Glasgow's Sonny Marvello, Love, incredible songwriting and performance by Shuggie Otis, the sensational David Axelrod, a pysh garage gem by Os Mutantes, the sensational First Cut Is The Deepest by PP Arnold and much, much, much more.

Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or click below. You'll need to scroll right down to get to the latest additions.

NEW TIP - if you go to filter at the top and type in Out on the Floor and click play, it should play the songs in the order below.

Read on for the full list of 30-songs that have been added.

Out on the Floor - Dobie Gray
Sidewinder - Teenage Fanclub
Alone Again Or - Love
Who Loves The Sun? - The Velvet Underground
Outdoor Miner - Wire
Fire Went Out - Sonny Marvello
My Little Red Book - Love

Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
The Nearest Faraway Place - The Beach Boys
Love and Mercy - Brian Wilson
All I Wanna Do - The Beach Boys
Another Boy Like Mine (demo) - Ellie Greenwich
Strawberry Letter 23 - Shuggie Otis
Holy Thursday - David Axelrod
A Minha Menina - Os Mutantes
The First Cut Is The Deepest - PP Arnold
Tighten Up Pt 1 - Archie Bell and the Drells
Sinnerman - Nina Simone

Iko Iko - The Dixie Cups
Friday On My Mind - The Easybeats
I Was Made To Love Her - Stevie Wonder
Runaway - Del Shannon
Crimson and Clover - Tommy James and the Shondells
This Will Be Our Year - The Zombies
You're Gonna Miss Me - The 13th Floor Elevators
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - Ennio Morricone
The Ecstasy Of Gold - Ennio Morriconne
Out In The Streets - The Shangri-Las
Draggin' The Line - Tommy James and the Shondells

Never Ending Mixtape Part 22

Welcome to a bonus edition of the Never Ending Mixtape.

I have listened to sooooo much music through March that I'm posting 2 updates to the mixtape this month.

The latest additions might be the most eclectic selection of tunes in a blog yet; we have the unique and brilliant Stereolab, the gorgeous tones of Cat Power, truly amazing songwriting and delivery courtesy of Wilco and Jeff Tweedy, artists I have never heard of before like Fruit Bats (not the guy from Carter USM.... at least I don't think so!), Phil Cordell and Darondo, some of my really favourite tunes like Saint Etienne's version of Neil Young's Only Love Can Break Your Heart, He'd Be A Diamond by The Bevis Frond and I Am A Rock by Simon and Garfunkel.

And more! Electro perfection from the Chemicals, Orbital and Lemon Jelly, classics from Fleetwood Mac and George Harrison, the exceptional version of The Last Time by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra that Richard Ashcroft used for Bittersweet Symphony, we have underground indie/dance from The Pastels and ESG sitting beside pure pop perfection from Madonna, we have a song from Belle and Sebastian with my sister Carla on lead vocals!!!!! And some hidden bonus tracks from Evan Dando, rock n roll from JAMC, the bonkers and brilliant Beta Band....

And just read on..... Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or click HERE.

Miss Modular - Stereolab
Way We Won't - Grandaddy
Dark End Of The Street - Cat Power
Gold Soundz - Pavement
All Your Secrets - Yo La Tengo
Jesus, etc - Wilco
I'm Always In Love - Jeff Tweedy
Crazy About You - Whiskeytown
When U Love Somebody - Fruit Bats
Pot Kettle Black - Wilco
There She Goes Again - The Velvet Underground
What Goes On - The Velvet Underground
That's That - Cass McCombs
Head On - The Jesus and Mary Chain
Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Saint Etienne
He'd Be A Diamond - The Bevis Frond
Squares - The Beta Band

Inner Meet Me - The Beta Band
Hudson Line - Mercury Rev
Reservations - Wilco
I Am A Rock - Simon and Garfunkel
What Is Life - George Harrison
Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac
Nathan Jones - The Supremes
Surface To Air - Chemical Brothers

The Staunton Lick - Lemon Jelly
Copenhagen - Orbital
The Last Time - Andrew Oldham Orchestra
Sweet Jane - The Velvet Underground
Dance - ESG
Material Girl - Madonna
Best Friend - Belle and Sebastian
Tongue Tied - Evan Dando
Whoops - Evan Dando
Rudy With A Flashlight - Evan Dando
Looking For Space - Evan Dando

Hitchin' A Ride - The Pastels
Femme Fatale - The Velvet Underground
Something On Your Mind - Karen Dalton
Red Lady - Phil Cordell
Didn't I - Darondo
Yesterday's On My Mind - Chrish Cohen
Baby I'll Come - Mary Love
Can't Get Away - Rodriguez

Baby Honey

Last week I enjoyed reading some tweets from Allan Hutton, a fellow music fan that I follow on Twitter, about tracking down a vinyl copy of The Pastels Baby Honey.

I tweeted Allan, we exchanged some messages and then Allan kindly agreed to write a guest blog for me. I'm glad I asked!

The great thing about this blog is that it highlights how some bands will always be mentioned and handed down. Some will pass people by - but bands like The Pastels will always be recommended in some shape or form - be that from bands, fans, labels, journalists or record shops.

Read on....

Baby Honey by The Pastels
Guest blog by Allan Hutton

I have to admit I was late to the party with regards to the Pastels.

I'd never been an Indie Kid, My Youth Culture rite of passage was via Punk then Mod in the late 70's and very early 80's.

Music was then and always has been a big part of my life.

I was blissfully unaware of The Pastels in the 80's as I was mourning the end of The Jam and into the Style Council, Aztec Camera, The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes to name but a few.

By the time the 90's arrived I started hearing great things about Teenage Fanclub and was getting into them. Through them I got to know about the Pastels and BMX Bandits etc.

I'm not exactly sure where I first heard the Pastels it might have been on Peel, I was intrigued by them but never owned any of their stuff until the late 90's when I got a hold of Illumination.

I really liked that album and decided to seek out their earlier stuff which had passed me by.

Among the Pastels melodic shambling clang, there was a B-side that shone like a beacon in the night for me! The jaw dropping and mesmerising, psychedelic Baby Honey. It is just one of those songs that you really get into and feel connected with. It has the deadpan coolness of the Velvet Underground and the repetition of The Fall which climaxes into a crescendo of beautiful and intense noise that you never want to end!

For me this song is and always will be the Pastels finest moment.

When I first heard it that song must have been about 14 or 15 years old therefore a vinyl copy of Million Tears with the spellbinding flip side was hard to find. I searched everywhere for a copy all to no avail.

As the years rolled by I succumbed to CD's and downloads and  kind of gave up on ever acquiring a vinyl copy and settled for the digital version on Up for a Bit!

However, the resurgence of vinyl four or five years ago rekindled my interest in records and once again I was on the hunt. However I still couldn't turn up Baby Honey! Until last week!

As I routinely searched Discogs of an evening, to my astonishment a near mint 12" copy was available. I was gonna have to pay a bit more than I would have liked, but I just bit the bullet and clicked that button! 

Two days later it was spinning on my record player and it hadn't aged one single bit as Baby Honey still sounded as enthralling now as when I first heard it all those years ago!

There is magic in her fingertips

There is magic in the lips I kiss

There is magic in her beautiful eyes

To justify the tears I've cried

The Pastels in November 2017 at the Concert for Stewart Cruickshank

Never Ending Mixtape

Never Ending Mixtape - the first instalment 

OK, I always said I wouldn't....but I finally got Spotify. Hey, it is 2016, almost 2017!

Spotify is handy, I'll always treasure vinyl and my CD's are unlikely never to be thrown out, only taken from boxes in the loft if I go to play something on iTunes and realise I haven't exported it. Although with Spotify I don't even have to do that anymore. In fact, I haven't used iTunes since getting Spotify.

I'm enjoying making mixes. Or playlists as the kids call it in 2016.

So I thought I would start a mixtape and add to it every month, becoming a regular blog. So here is the first instalment on what may well become - The Never Ending Mixtape..... CLICK HERE TO LISTEN


Watch The Sunrise - Big Star
Starting the never ending mixtape with a song I discovered via a mixtape by The Chemical Brothers a long, long time ago in the 90's. This is beautiful.

Rock and Roll - The Velvet Underground
The Velvets are always a good and cool band to feature on any mixtape ad I am pretty sure they will feature again.

Feel so Sad (Glides and Chimes) - Spiritualized
A band that can really take you on a journey. See previous blog.

Makes Me Wanna Die - Tricky
Safe From Harm - Massive Attack
Killing Smile - Death In Vegas
Hey Lisa - David Holmes
Little Fluffy Clouds - The Orb
Tricky, Massive Attack, Death In Vegas, David Holmes and The Orb are all bands I discovered through my best mate Reddy. We had so many incredible nights in and out in our late teens discovering, listening to and talking about music. Reddy had such a cool and eclectic taste. He still does. One night we listened to Screamadelica non-stop until dawn. Reddy really feel for the Bristol scene led by Massive Attack and Tricky and The Orb's Little Fluffy Clouds is a song I can't listen to without thinking of times together. Good times.

Kathleen Sat On The Arm Of Her Favourite Chair - Hooton Tennis Club
Indie guitar bands are still alive and kicking - thank God. Two guitars, bass and drums, a sense of humour, some hooks...sublime

Feed The Tree - Belly
OK i had an indie crush on Tanya Donnelly....and still do. This is brilliant.

Shaky Ground - The Lemonheads
Nic Dalton and Tom Morgan played a HUGE part in The Lemonheads by writing some incredible songs for Evan Dando that fitted him like a glove. This is songwriting at its best for me.

Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
Just sublime, Hope Sandoval is also on the Death In Vegas track.

Reel Around The Fountain - The Smiths
Stolen Car - Beth Orion
Here's Where The Story Ends - The Sundays
The Only Living Boy In New York - Simon and Garfunkel
Bitterblue - Cat Stevens
Burned - Buffalo Springfield
Ultimate Painting - Ultimate Painting
L.S.D - The Pretty Things
Opus 40 - Mercury Rev
He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot - Grandaddy

Girls Keith - Scoundrels, Dirty Gentlemen
Stones-y rock n roll Superb! Don't know much else about it - Spotify discovery!

10 great love songs

Happy Valentine's Day.

Here are 10 of my favourite love songs.

My Love Is Your Love (Forever) - The Isley Brothers

Flows superbly, gorgeous strings. 'Now girl, now that I found you, come closer girl, I wanna put my arms around you.

Only With You - The Beach Boys

Does it get any more beautiful than this?

'I wanna spend this life with you, only with you, yes it's true, all I wanna do, is spend my life with you.'

Don't Let Me Down - The Beatles

Lennon is so hopelessly in love that he says four words rather than three. Incredible middle-eight 'I'm in love for the first time, don't you know it's gonna last, it's a love that last forever, it's a love that has no past'.

I'm Thinking Of You - Sister Sledge

Disco heaven, this was sublime when Chic played it at Wickerman last summer.

'Without love, there's no reason to live, without you, what would I do with the love I give?'

'I'm thinking of you and the things you do to me, that make me love you, now I'm living in ecstasy'.

Mellow Doubt - Teenage Fanclub

I listened to this a lot before I proposed to Lynn.

'There is no choice, in what I must do, nothing is greater, than to be with you'

I Love Every Little Thing About You - Stevie Wonder

Stevie has written some inspirational love songs. Has he ever sounded so head over heels?

'I'm here to say, I love you every day, and I just wanna tell the world I love you so…'

Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In My Space - Spiritualized

From the truly exceptional album of the same name. J Spaceman is on a different level with this gorgeous lysergic lullaby.

I will love you till I die and I will love you all the time,

So please put your sweet hand in mine, 

We'll float in space and drift in time

I'm Sticking With You - Velvet Underground

Childlike vocals by Moe Tucker. The section when Lou Reed comes in is just stunning, flows superbly.

I'll do anything for you, anything you want me to, 

I'll do anything for you, woah-oh I'm sticking with you

Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac

Can you hear me calling, out your name,

You know I'm falling and I don't know what to say

Something's happening, happening to me

My friend's say I'm acting peculiarly 

Divine. 

Baby, I Love You - The Ronettes

Simple, heartfelt and soulful. This was our first wedding dance. Spector at his very best.

Have I ever told you

How good it feels to hold you

It isn't easy to explain

The Boss kicks off this weeks 6 for Saturday